Chapter 146
Xie Shuyu lay under the camphor tree, the afternoon sunlight shining through the treetops onto his body. The chirping of cicadas that used to be annoying seemed to be a little quieter this year, and the breeze blew by, making him feel inexplicably comfortable.
"The sky and earth are dark and yellow, the universe is vast and boundless, the sun and moon wax and wane, the stars are spread out..."
He heard the sound of a childish person reading, and he looked up at Jiaojiao who was sitting at the newly built desk. The light spots cast by the swaying shadows of the trees fell on Jiaojiao's face and hit her dark eyes, which were crystal clear and bright, like jewels that a pearl diver had picked up from the sea and were good enough to be passed down from generation to generation. There was not a trace of impurities in the whole body, and it was as beautiful as the stars.
"Uncle?" Jiaojiao, noticing his gaze, turned her head and looked at him in confusion.
Xie Shuyu, who was caught peeking, remained calm. He raised his hand and beckoned, saying in a low, cold voice, "Come here."
Hearing this, Jiaojiao put down the book and ran over, lifting her short legs and climbing onto the recliner.
This recliner was made by Yin Zheng for Jiaojiao. It is three feet wide and five feet long, enough for Jiaojiao to roll around on it.
It’s just that Xie Shuyu always likes to fight with Jiaojiao for this recliner, and Jiaojiao can never win over him.
Every time this happened, Yin Zheng, who was sitting next to him, would mercilessly lift him up from the recliner and carry Jiaojiao up.
Later, when Yin Zheng was not around or busy in the kitchen, he would reach out and pick Jiaojiao up, and lie down on her instead.
The little Jiaojiao couldn't win the argument, so he ran to the kitchen with his short legs to complain to his father. Then, for the next few days, the medicine he drank was so bitter that it hurt his lungs.
Who would have thought that Yin Zheng would be so shady and actually put Coptis chinensis in his medicine?!
Xie Shuyu, whose face was bruised, became much more obedient. At least he would not lie on the recliner when Yin Zheng was at home.
Although he could barely lie down on the recliner, half of his long legs were hanging outside, so it was not very comfortable. However, he just wanted to see Jiaojiao angry, and he enjoyed doing so.
Jiaojiao, who couldn't climb up, stretched out her hand and said, "Uncle, hold me!"
"Spoiled." Xie Shuyu said, leaning over to carry Jiaojiao onto the recliner. Jiaojiao skillfully squeezed forward and lay sideways in his arms.
The small, soft ball squeezed into his arms, and Xie Shuyu's heart softened a little.
He pinched her chubby face and asked, "Why don't you go to town with your father today?"
Jiaojiao puffed out her cheeks and said, "Dad said it's too hot and won't let me go."
"You should call me daddy."
"Why?"
"'Dad' means father, 'Dad' means father. In Dayong, everyone calls their father 'Dad'. 'Dad' is just a local dialect. If you call him 'Dad', many people won't know that Yin Zheng is your father. They might even think that you are the child your father abducted and arrest him and put him in jail!" When Xie Shuyu said this, his eyelashes drooped, his face was serious, his temperament was noble and cold, and it didn't seem at all that he was trying to scare the child.
It turned out that for the past half month, he had been trying to correct Jiaojiao's habit of calling her dad, but he had never succeeded. He rarely felt frustrated, so he resorted to some bluffing tactics.
Jiaojiao, who was slow to react, glared with her round eyes and said hurriedly, "Change, Jiaojiao, change, call daddy, don't grab daddy."
Xie Shuyu couldn't help but chuckle and reached out to stroke Jiaojiao's fluffy hair.
He had been here for nearly half a month. When his injuries allowed him to move, he went out and sent the account book back to the capital through a secret channel.
Originally, he should have gone to the capital with them, but after meeting Jiaojiao and Yin Zheng, a pair of incongruous and strange father and son, he no longer wanted to go back to the capital. Anyway, with His Highness's means, as long as the account book was in his hands, it would be of no use to him, so he used the excuse of being seriously injured and stayed in Lijia Village.
During the time he stayed here to recuperate, he taught Jiaojiao to recognize words in his spare time. Unexpectedly, Jiaojiao was very smart and had already memorized the Thousand Character Classic, which made him satisfy his desire to be a teacher.
Lying on his side under the tree, Xie Shuyu held Jiaojiao's small, fleshy hand. A hint of laziness crossed his cool features. He picked up a book beside him titled "Youxue Qionglin" and read, "When chaos first began, the universe began to be established."
Jiaojiao, who was lying in his arms and reading with him, followed along in a childish voice: "When chaos first began, the universe began to be established."
Xie Shuyu couldn't help but curl up the corner of his mouth: "The light and clear air that floats is the sky, and the heavy and turbid air that condenses is the earth."
"The light, clear, and floating air is the sky, and the heavy, turbid, and condensed air is the earth."
"The sun, moon, and five planets are called the Seven Political Systems; heaven, earth, and man are called the Three Talents."
"The sun is the ancestor of all yang, and the moon is the image of the moon."
"The rainbow is called 螮蝀, which represents the lustful energy of heaven and earth; the toad in the moon represents the radiance of the moon's spirit."
The afternoon sun made people drowsy, and as Jiaojiao was reciting poems, she fell asleep in Xie Shuyu's arms.
The sound of shallow breathing came from his arms. Xie Shuyu put down the book quietly and looked down at the child in his arms. From his angle, he could see his slender eyelashes, straight nose and chubby little face.
So small!
He sighed again.
The other children in the family were more afraid of him than close to him, even his younger brother who was born to the same mother.
So before he met Jiaojiao, he had never had close contact with such a young child. It was also the first time he realized that children were so soft-hearted. No wonder his grandmother and parents spoiled his younger brother so much. This time when he goes back, maybe he can try to get in touch with his younger brother.
Just as Xie Shuyu was thinking about this, he suddenly heard a noise coming from outside the door. He quickly got up from the recliner and sat on a stool beside him, pretending to read a book. He had really had enough of this Coptis chinensis!
"Dad... No, Daddy!" Jiaojiao, who was awakened by Xie Shuyu's noise, rubbed her little face to wake herself up, then got off the recliner, ran forward and hugged her father's legs, looking up and laughing happily.
Yin Zheng squatted down, picked him up, and stuffed a bag of snacks into his arms: "Try these chestnut cakes that just came in from the snack shop."
Jiaojiao opened the oil paper and gave the first piece to her father. Then she held the snack and started to nibble on it. The sweet and soft taste spread from her mouth. Jiaojiao's eyes lit up. She rubbed her face against her father's and said softly, "Hello, Dad. I love you the most!"
Xie Shuyu, who was standing aside, put down the book he had knocked over and looked at Jiaojiao with narrowed eyes. She was coaxed into smiling broadly by a bag of snacks. It seemed that she had not seen enough of the world!
Wu Yulan from the neighboring village came to Lijia Village regardless of rain or shine. Aunt Chen and the others had noticed this a long time ago. After all, even when such a big loss of life happened at the village entrance some time ago, she still continued to come to Lijia Village. How could this not attract their attention?
"Hey, hey, hey, look, they're coming again!" Aunt Chen turned to Aunt Zhang who was washing clothes.
Aunt Zhang looked up and saw Wu Yulan walking towards the village chief's house not far away. "What do you think she is thinking about when she goes to the village chief's house every day?"
"How should I know that?"
"Oh, is there something in this village that your Aunt Li doesn't know?" Aunt Feng said sarcastically.
Aunt Chen rolled her eyes and ignored her.
Aunt Feng tutted, looked at Feng Shi who was several people away, and said in a hoarse voice: "Changchun family, why does Wu Yulan from the next village always come to your house?"
"Nothing, she's a close friend of my sister-in-law's. She came to chat with my sister-in-law when she had some free time." Feng wrung out the clothes and put them into the wooden basin. "Auntie, if there's nothing else, I'll leave first. I haven't fed the chickens at home yet."
After Feng left, several people exchanged glances, their eyes full of unconcealed curiosity. Clearly, they didn't believe Feng's words. Who doesn't have a few handkerchief friends? But they also didn't see anyone's handkerchief friends coming to their house every day, let alone saying that the chickens hadn't been fed yet. The village chief had so many people in his family, so why did he need her to feed the chickens?
When Feng returned home, she looked at her sister-in-law Chen's room impatiently. Wu Yulan came here every day, causing the villagers to ask all kinds of questions about her. It was really annoying.
Just as she was thinking about it, she saw Wu Yulan hurriedly coming out of the house. After seeing her, she nodded and smiled timidly, then hurried out the door.
Feng, who was hanging clothes to dry, paused, a look of astonishment on her face. She seemed to have seen several swollen, bruised, and purple slap marks on Wu Yulan's face. Could it be that someone had beaten her?!
Just as she was wondering, she saw Chen come out. Feng quickly put down her work and walked over to ask curiously, "Sister-in-law, what happened to Wu? Who hit her? Why is her face so swollen?"
Chen's brows were furrowed, and after being questioned by Feng for a long time, she finally blurted out, "Yulan comes here every day. Her mother-in-law suspected her purpose and instigated her husband to beat her up. Don't tell anyone about this!"
"Bah!" Feng spat fiercely on the ground. "I despise men who beat women the most. He deserves to be childless in the Zhao family. God should strike that Zhao and that old hag to death together..."
Zhao, who came in from outside the yard and heard her last words, thought she was scolding her parents' family. Her face changed immediately and she started to curse Feng.
"???!" Feng, who was inexplicably scolded, was not a pushover. She was stunned for a moment and then scolded back. When they got too angry, the two started fighting.
When Old Wang came back from the fields, she saw her two daughters-in-law pulling each other's hair. The eldest daughter-in-law, Chen, was anxiously trying to stop them. She raised her eyebrows, picked up a broom and hit the two of them with it.
Zhao and Feng, who were each hit by two brooms from Old Wang, stood dejectedly in front of their mother-in-law and were scolded. In private, they glared at each other and stepped on each other, which made Old Wang's eyebrows jump. She was about to hit them with two more brooms.
Looking down at the blood on her hand, and glancing at her sister-in-law, Feng suddenly looked up and said, "Mom, my period has been delayed for a month!"
Old Mrs. Wang, startled by her, came to her senses, dropped the broom and slapped her thigh: "Xiuhong, is this true?!"
"real!"
Old Wang was so happy that she didn't know what to do. She turned around and said, "Let the second son accompany you to the town tomorrow. Maybe our Li family will have another grandson!"
Zhao was stunned for a moment, then thought, considering how much her mother-in-law values her grandson, wouldn't it be her turn to do all the housework after her second sister-in-law gets pregnant? Was she going to be exhausted to death?!
Zhao's eyes went dark. No, she had to pull the third child to try harder tonight and try to get her pregnant too!
The next day, the second son and his wife came back from the town and happily reported the good news to Mrs. Wang. Mrs. Wang immediately and happily burned a few more incense sticks to the Goddess of Fertility, clasped her hands together and chanted various things, asking the Goddess of Fertility to bless them and let the Li family have many children and be blessed.
For years, Mrs. Wang had been desperate to have a grandchild. Her two daughters-in-law hadn't been able to conceive, so they went to the doctor, who said there was nothing wrong with their bodies. Later, she even suspected something was wrong with her own sons, so she took her eldest and second sons to see a doctor in town, and the results were positive.
There was nothing wrong with her son and daughter-in-law, but she just couldn't get pregnant. She and the old man even suspected their own ancestral tomb, suspecting that there was something wrong with the feng shui of the tomb, which affected the fate of their descendants. If the clan elders had not really prohibited it, she and the old man would have planned to move the tomb long ago.
Now I am finally pregnant, all thanks to the Goddess of Fertility!
Old Mrs. Wang, who was muttering to herself, suddenly stopped. They had invited the Goddess of Fertility to their home for seven or eight years, but her help had never been effective. But now her daughters-in-law suddenly became pregnant one after another. Could it be due to other reasons?
Old Mrs. Wang frowned and thought anxiously that she must find out the reason. She was still waiting for her daughters-in-law to give her four or five grandchildren, and her family could afford to raise them.
I didn’t get pregnant in previous years but I got pregnant this year, so something must have happened this year that didn’t happen in previous years!
Old Mrs. Wang, who was still quite smart, frowned as she recalled.
Is there something this year that wasn’t there in previous years?
Old Wang was thinking about this while eating, while walking, and while working. She was almost possessed by this.
As she was thinking, she suddenly saw Wu and Yin Dazhu walking by not far away, and her mind suddenly cleared up as if struck by lightning.
She slapped her thigh suddenly, making herself grimace. That little kid!
The little kid that Yin picked up from the mountain!
If there is anything different this year, it is that both of his daughters-in-law have held the little baby named Jiaojiao.
Thinking back to the first day that little kid came to their house, she wanted to let her eldest daughter-in-law get some of the kid's charm, so she gave the kid named Jiaojiao to Chen!
I didn't expect that he was really affected by the little baby's spirit and made both of his wives pregnant!
After discovering this, Mrs. Wang hurried home and told her guess to her sons and daughters-in-law. The three sons and the old man did not believe it, but the daughters-in-law were a little skeptical.
When I think about it carefully, it seems that the only difference from previous years is that there is a little kid in the village.
And that little kid was indeed different from the other children in the village. He had big eyes and skin that was whiter than the clouds in the sky. Even the precious grandson of the master in the town was not as fair and handsome as him.
People nowadays are superstitious. Thinking of this, Chen and the others' original half-belief and half-doubt turned into 90% belief. Li Gensheng and his three sons also evolved from their original disbelief to half-belief and half-doubt.
Could it really be because of that childishness? !
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